The invention pertains to the field of roller conveyor apparatus for introducing articles to be conveyed from an auxiliary or packing station to a primary conveyor.
Material handling apparatus commonly employs conveyors of one type or another, and roller conveyors consisting of a plurality of rollers perpendicularily disposed to the conveyor length are widely used for transporting relatively large articles having substantially flat support surfaces, such as boxes, cartons and the like. In such roller conveyor installations it is not uncommon to feed the conveyed articles to a primary conveyor from auxiliary or feeder conveyors, and in those instances where container or carton packing stations are located adjacent a primary conveyor short auxiliary or packing station conveyors are employed to transport the filled carton from the packing position to the primary conveyor.
When transferring the carton from a packing station to the primary conveyor it is necessary that the carton be substantially centrally positioned on the primary conveyor, and such positioning may be achieved by rams or push apparatus which forces the carton to the center of the primary conveyor. Also, it is known to use elevatable and retractable transfer conveyors having transversely disposed rollers located between the rollers of the primary conveyor to aid in the positioning of the carton on the primary conveyor rollers. Such transfer conveyor structure is shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,360,661; 3,173,554 and 3,456,773.
One of the requirements for a conveyor packing station is that the carton being packed be at rest if hand packing is occuring, and unobstructed access to the carton from the top, back and sides thereof is necessary. Further, a positive transferring action from the packing station to the primary conveyor is necesary, and prior conveyors known to the applicant have not acheived these attributes in apparatus that is easy to operate, power driven and automatic in operation, and which may be manufactured at a moderate cost.